captain
Americannoun
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captains
plural
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a person who is at the head of or in authority over others; chief; leader.
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an officer ranking in most armies above a first lieutenant and below a major.
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an officer in the U.S. Navy ranking above a commander and below a rear admiral or a commodore.
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a military leader.
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an officer in the police department, ranking above a lieutenant and usually below an inspector.
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an officer of the fire department, usually in command of a company, ranking above a lieutenant and below a chief or assistant chief.
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the commander of a merchant vessel.
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the pilot of an airplane.
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a local official in a political party responsible for organizing votes on a ward or precinct level.
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Sports. the field leader of a team.
The captain of the home team elected to receive on the kickoff.
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a person of great power and influence, especially based on economic wealth.
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South Midland and Southern U.S. an unofficial title of respect for a man (sometimes used humorously or ironically).
verb (used with object)
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captains,
present (3rd person singular)
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captained,
past participle, past
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captaining
present participle
noun
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the person in charge of and responsible for a vessel
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an officer of the navy who holds a rank junior to a rear admiral but senior to a commander
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an officer of the army, certain air forces, and the marine corps who holds a rank junior to a major but senior to a lieutenant
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the officer in command of a civil aircraft, usually the senior pilot
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the leader of a team in games
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a person in command over a group, organization, etc; leader
a captain of industry
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a police officer in charge of a precinct
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(formerly) a head waiter
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Also called: bell captain. a supervisor of bellboys in a hotel
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informal a person who is buying drinks for people in a bar
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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captainsimple
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captainssimple
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have captainedperfect
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has captainedperfect
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am captainingprogressive
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are captainingprogressive
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is captainingprogressive
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have been captainingperfect progressive
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has been captainingperfect progressive
Past
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captainedsimple
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had captainedperfect
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was captainingprogressive
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were captainingprogressive
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had been captainingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of captain
1325–75; Middle English capitain < Anglo-French capitain, captayn < Late Latin capitāneus chief, equivalent to capit- (stem of caput ) head + -ān ( us ) -an + -eus -eous
Explanation
A captain is the person in charge of a group. The captain of a high school soccer team is usually an elected or appointed leader. The word captain can describe any leader, but it's traditionally been the name for the person on a boat or ship with the highest rank. The captain of a fishing boat is responsible for making decisions about what route to take and how best to avoid bad weather. When she steers the boat, you can say she captains it. The word comes from the Late Latin capitaneus, "chief," from caput, or "head."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
When he was named as England white-ball captain last year, Brook pulled out of the IPL and remains banned from the competition as a result.
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026
Former Newcastle captain Guimaraes looked comfortable at the base of Arsenal's midfield in Cardiff, while Tzolis shone with two assists.
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026
His superb innings at Taunton was ended by a catch from spin-bowling all-rounder Archie Vaughan - a Somerset regular at 20 and son of former England captain Michael.
From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026
Berkers is the captain of a restaurant boat that is now listing heavily after becoming stuck in the riverbank.
From Barron's ● Aug. 15, 2026
This time the captain was roaring mad when he opened the door.
From "The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs" by Betty G. Birney
At Slovakia's Gabcikovo dam, further upstream again, lock operations have slowed down, causing longer waiting times, and captains are being urged to check their vessels' navigability.
From Barron's ● Jul. 30, 2026
That has won over charter fishing boat captains, he said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
Ship captains won’t want to risk going through the maritime blockade, and insurance becomes very expensive, he noted.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 21, 2026
The overnight strikes killed one sailor from India and injured several other crew members, spooking captains and shipping executives.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
The signals were orders to the ships’ captains: Turn the fleet back to New York.
From "George Washington, Spymaster" by Thomas B. Allen
Messi captained Argentina as they won the World Cup in 2022 and led them to the 2026 World Cup final, which his side lost 1-0 to Spain, before returning to club side Inter Miami.
From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026
Paris FC's Maeline Mendy has captained the France Under-19 side that reached the European Under-19 Championship final in 2025.
From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026
Although Newcastle have since spent £57m on a couple of young midfielders in Sean Steur and Aladji Bamba, Alabi is one to watch as someone who has already captained England at youth level.
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026
Noni Madueke was part of England's run to the final weekend but did not play beyond the quarter-finals, while Martin Odegaard captained Norway to the quarter-finals.
From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026
In 1958, some three thousand years later, photojournalist Peter Throckmorton was completing his second summer aboard a sponge diving vessel captained by Kemal Aras.
From "Shipwrecked!" by Martin W. Sandler
Norgaard previously spent six years at Brentford and became a key player for the Bees, captaining the side and making 196 appearances.
From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026
Before his return to captaining England in Nottingham, he referred only to leading the team "this week".
From BBC ● Jun. 28, 2026
Franz Beckenbauer finally got his hands on the World Cup in 1974, captaining West Germany to victory over the much-fancied Netherlands.
From BBC ● Jun. 11, 2026
Right-handed batter Smith played 50 Tests for England, captaining the side in exactly half of those matches, and represented Warwickshire for 19 years from 1956 to 1975.
From BBC ● May 18, 2026
Todd steered the boat like he was captaining a great yacht.
From "Zeitoun" by Dave Eggers
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
